I want to share about two different approaches to discipleship that are quite common in the church.
Knowledge-Based Discipleship: Discipleship is based on gaining and attaining knowledge of God and the
Scriptures. Discipleship is measured by the amount of information you
have and the level of knowledge that you have of the Word of God. This
is the most common approach to discipleship in most western churches.
Which is why we have so many programs, classes and bible studies. As
an example, many of the same people attend the same Bible Study at the
same church year after year. As a result, their knowledge increases,
meanwhile they make no changes in their lives and they obey little to
nothing of what they learn. The more you know, the more discipled you
are (so they think). I will let you find verses to support this
approach. Best of luck.
Obedience-Based Discipleship: Discipleship is measured when you obey and DO what you are learning.
It is not merely gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but for
the sake of action. Learn, do. Learn, do. Hear, obey. Hear, obey.
Even radically. Obedience based discipleship means serious commitment
to following Jesus, not just knowing him. The demons knew Him and
believed. Will you follow what you hear? Three times in John 15 Jesus
says if you love me, you will obey me. The very heart of the Great
Commission in Matthew 28 is for us to GO and teach people to OBEY
EVERYTHING that he has commanded.
This
is serious! I hope that you catch this. Understanidng the difference
between these two approaches can transform your life and your church.
What if preaching became about obedience instead of knowledge…in a way
that people actually had to show how they are oberying what the hear
each week? What if we decided that everything we do as a church will
now consist of hearing God and obeying him?
The following promises from God’s Word can be taken corporately and individually.
Jn 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will
ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you
forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you
and will be 72 in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come
to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will
see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will
realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He
who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and
show myself to him.” (NIV)
This passage from the Gospel of John gives us tremendous insights
into the results of obedience for individuals and groups. Examine this
list of benefits.
• Jesus will ask the Father to give us a Counselor (the Holy Spirit) who will be with us forever
• The Holy Spirit will live with us and be in us
• We will not be abandoned as orphans, but Christ will come to us
• We will see Christ even if the world cannot see him
• We will live because Christ lives
• We will be loved by the Father
• We will be loved by Christ
• Christ will show Himself to us I could write a book explaining these benefits alone, but John is not finished.
It’s hard to get Bibles into North Korea, but it’s possible. Recently a team from South Korea launched 30 balloons carrying New Testaments, Scripture verses and other Gospel messages into North Korea. With a typhoon fast approaching the Korean peninsula, heavy rain and wind carried the balloons directly north into the isolated country.
“The gospel is the good news which will save the dry branches in North Korea like a welcome rain,” one of the missionaries exclaimed during prayer before the launch. The team was composed of missionaries, volunteers, university students and Christians with family members in North Korea. They successfully sent 1,000 Bibles and 90,000 gospel flyers into North Korea. More than 7,900 New Testaments have been sent to North Korea this year alone.